Purple Hibiscus: A Novel

Average customer rating:

Great book

As unique and beautiful as the title suggests

Good bookclub selection

Very engaging, but simplistic

Engrossing storytelling

Purple Hibiscus: A Novel
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1400076943
Release Date: 2004-09-14

Amazon.com

Purple Hibiscus, Nigerian-born writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's debut, begins like many novels set in regions considered exotic by the western reader: the politics, climate, social customs, and, above all, food of Nigeria (balls of fufu rolled between the fingers, okpa bought from roadside vendors) unfold like the purple hibiscus of the title, rare and fascinating. But within a few pages, these details, however vividly rendered, melt into the background of a larger, more compelling story of a joyless family. Fifteen-year-old Kambili is the dutiful and self-effacing daughter of a rich man, a religious fanatic and domestic tyrant whose public image is of a politically courageous newspaper publisher and philanthropist. No one in Papa's ancestral village, where he is titled "Omelora" (One Who Does For the Community), knows why Kambili¹s brother cannot move one of his fingers, nor why her mother keeps losing her pregnancies. When a widowed aunt takes an interest in Kambili, her family begins to unravel and re-form itself in unpredictable ways. --Regina Marler

Book Description

Fifteen-year-old Kambili's world is circumscribed by the high walls and frangipani trees of her family compound. Her wealthy Catholic father, under whose shadow Kambili lives, while generous and politically active in the community, is repressive and fanatically religious at home.

When Nigeria begins to fall apart under a military coup, Kambili's father sends her and her brother away to stay with their aunt, a University professor, whose house is noisy and full of laughter. There, Kambili and her brother discover a life and love beyond the confines of their father's authority. The visit will lift the silence from their world and, in time, give rise to devotion and defiance that reveal themselves in profound and unexpected ways. This is a book about the promise of freedom; about the blurred lines between childhood and adulthood; between love and hatred, between the old gods and the new.

Customer Reviews:

Great book.......2007-10-06

I really enjoyed Purple Hibiscus. I am intrigued by books of different cultures and places. Some of the content of the book was disturbing and at times heart breaking, but it made for a relistic view into this young girl's life. I am not a religous person at all but I have to say that the positive spirituality in this book was enlightening and touching. One of the things that struck me most was the differences in the way the African characters treated family. There was a lot of love, respect and genuine caring among them, even the younger generation. Being an American it always amazes me how much many other cultures value their extended family and are willing and WANT to do much for them. I am looking forward to reading another book by this author and highly reccomend this book.

As unique and beautiful as the title suggests.......2007-08-16

No wonder Chinua Achebe is delighted by Chimamanda Adichie. And no wonder she can dare weave his legendary title into her story's open. Chimamanda Adichie has a very special writing talent -- raw yet also subtly refined. Her story reads the way incredible dancers dance -- convincingly, passionately, honestly, and seemingly, without any effort. "Purple Hibiscus" is insightful, fresh, honest, real. If you like Haitian writer Edwidge Dandicott (whose work I adore!), especially "Krik Krak," I think you'll also like Chimamanda Adichie.

Good bookclub selection.......2007-07-02

I very much enjoyed this book. My bookclub, Reading Roses, read this as our June selectin and everyone really enjoyed it. I think this book brought out the most discussion we have had in a while. It was quite interesting to read about life in another country; well written; characters were well developed. Good choice for a bookclub.

Very engaging, but simplistic.......2007-06-24

I decided to read this book after Chimamanda won an award in London. The book was definitely worth reading. It grips you right from the very beginning and keeps you hooked till the very end. It also delves a lot into the Ibo Nigerian culture that makes me wonder if non-Nigerians can follow the entire story.

My only criticism is that the book is very simplistic, which may be a good thing for someone who just wants a very light reading.

Engrossing storytelling.......2007-05-07

Adichie takes any non-African reader into an enthralling fictional world without compromising anything about the context, history and sensibility of Nigerian life. She achieves this through sharp, immediate characterization and a strong storyline. It's not a "difficult" book - it's a total page-turner - but it packs a great deal of complexity beneath its apparently simple surface. When you finish this slim novel, you know you've been somewhere.

Average customer rating:

A gripping story of teenage angst, cruelty, and self-delusion
An unlikeable main character
You are cooking them, aren't you ?
If only it had a different ending
Brilliant Book

The Wasp Factory: A Novel
Iain Banks
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0684853159

Amazon.com

"I had been making the rounds of the Sacrifice Poles the day we heard my brother had escaped. I already knew something was going to happen; the Factory told me."

Those lines begin one of the most infamous of contemporary Scottish novels. The narrator, Frank Cauldhame, is a weird teenager who lives on a tiny island connected to mainland Scotland by a bridge. He maintains grisly Sacrifice Poles to serve as his early warning system and deterrent against anyone who might invade his territory.

Few novelists have ever burst onto the literary scene with as much controversy as Iain Banks in 1984. The Wasp Factory was reviled by many reviewers on account of its violence and sadism, but applauded by others as a new and Scottish voice--that is, a departure from the English literary tradition. The controversy is a bit puzzling in retrospect, because there is little to object to in this novel, if you're familiar with genre horror.

The Wasp Factory is distinguished by an authentically felt and deftly written first-person style, delicious dark humor, a sense of the surreal, and a serious examination of the psyche of a childhood psychopath. Most readers will find that they sympathize with and even like Frank, despite his three murders (each of which is hilarious in an Edward Gorey fashion). It's a classic of contemporary horror. --Fiona Webster

Book Description

Meet Frank Cauldhame. Just sixteen, and unconventional to say the least:

Two years after I killed Blyth I murdered my young brother Paul, for quite different and more fundamental reasons than I'd disposed of Blyth, and then a year after that I did for my young cousin Esmerelda, more or less on a whim.

That's my score to date. Three. I haven't killed anybody for years, and don't intend to ever again.

It was just a stage I was going through.

Customer Reviews:

A gripping story of teenage angst, cruelty, and self-delusion.......2007-06-23

"The Wasp Factory" is a story self-narrated by Frank, an angry and confused teenager who only finds solace through elaborate rituals involving cruelty to animals.

Frank's story takes us through several days of his life where he wanders the island he lives on and the town he lives by. As an indifferent aside, he also tells us, in dark, cold, and unsettling humorous detail, the three murders he has committed--some of them family members. If you are in the mood for a dark psychological study narrated by a unreliable sociopath, then this is the book for you.

Banks creates a very dark and twisted world with this book. His attention to detail when he describes Frank's inner thoughts is flawless. With ease he describes the quick, sometimes random, feelings that we all have and that we all forget. He also describes Frank's cruel rituals in fascinating specifics.

Unfortunately, I give it four stars only because the ending was a bit over the top and, IMHO, it didn't fit well into the main vein of the story.

An unlikeable main character.......2007-05-01

I think that this is another book that you either love or hate. I loved it, it has a very black humour throughout the book, and there are some disturbing aspects to our main character.
I have leant this book to a few people, and of these, a couple have loved it, one absolutely hated it.
It is true that it is hard to empathise with a main character that is violent and malicious, but in this respect, this book reminds me a little of A Clockwork Orange only in as much that the main character in this book has no redeeming qualities either.
If you like twists, this one has a good one at the end.

You are cooking them, aren't you ?.......2007-05-01

Iain Banks was born in Scotland in 1954 and published his first book - "The Wasp Factory" - in 1984. In the years since, he's won critical acclaim, topped best-seller lists and has even written Science Fiction books under the cunning nom-de-plume 'Iain M. Banks'.

Frank Cauldhame is sixteen years old and hasn't quite had what you'd call a typical upbringing. In fact, he doesn't officially exist : Frank was never registered, has no birth certificate, no passport and no national insurance number. The upside is that, as a result, he's never had to attend school - though he was educated at home by his father. (Angus, Frank's father, did occasionally embellish parts of the curriculum - for example, Frank believed for a time that there was a character called Fellatio in "Hamlet"). Angus is a scientist : the discipline is never clearly identified, though he does appear to be involved in the biomedical sector. These connections have also apparently allowed Angus to provide for Frank's medical needs - despite his son's official non-existence. (These needs were increased at an early age, following a devastating encounter with a dog). Angus' study is strictly off-limits to Frank and is permanently locked - though Frank is determined to make it inside someday.

The pair are pretty comfortable, whatever it is Angus does for a living. They live on a small island, just off the coast of Portneil in Scotland. Frank never knew his mother, Angus' second wife, as she left shortly after he was born. (Apparently, she didn't care much for children). It's probably lucky for her that she didn't stick around : Frank has turned into a very strange kid whose values and beliefs don't really overlap with those held by 'normal' society. He's very fond of general destruction and killing - so far, he's dispatched two cousins, one brother and various animals. (He's yet to be caught out). He is also very inventive and has essentially created his own belief system - involving a Wasp Factory, some Sacrifice Poles and the Bunker (a pillbox on the beach, a relic from the Second World War). He also has his own name for various parts of the island, depending on what he's done there - for example, the Snake Park, Black Destroyer Hill and the Bomb Circle.

The events of "The Wasp Factory" take place over a couple of days - beginning with the news that Eric, Frank's half-brother, has escaped form hospital. (Eric was committed several years earlier, for setting dogs on fire). The book sees Frank looking back over his life, in the build-up to Eric's expected return. This isn't something that causes Frank any great amount of stress, despite the fact that Eric clearly still isn't firing on all thrusters. (Frank's is more than a match for his brother : the worrying this is that he sees himself as being the "somebody sane who still likes" Eric.) Unsurprisingly, the book can be a little gruesome at times and it isn't one I'd recommend if you're feeling a little queasy. However, if you're feeling up to a challenge, it's certainly well worth reading !

If only it had a different ending.......2006-12-18

I would have given this book 4 stars if it had an ending that wasn't absolutly terrible and ruined every page that came before it.

Brilliant Book.......2006-09-08

A friend suggested this book to me, so I decided to give it a try. I found it compelling plot and liked the twist at the end. Iain Banks knows how to write excellent characters that you can sympathize with, even though the character is murderer. This is one of the best books I've read in recent years. I highly recommend it.

Average customer rating:

A Cold Winter Novel's Mix of Harsh Tragedy & Lovely Beauty
A great read
fantastic
Story Well Told
Entering a life unknown before now

Winter's Bone: A Novel
Daniel Woodrell
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 031605755X

Book Description

Meet Ree Dolly -- not since Mattie Ross stormed her way through Arkansas in True Grit has a young girl so fiercely defended her loved ones. Sixteen-year-old Ree Dolly has grown up in the harsh poverty of the Ozarks and belongs to a large extended family. On a bitterly cold day, Ree, who takes care of her two younger brothers as well as her mother, learns that her father has skipped bail. If he fails to appear for his upcoming court date on charges of cooking crystal meth, his family will lose their house, the only security they have. Winter's Bone is the story of Ree's quest to bring her father back, alive or dead. Her goal had been to leave her messy world behind and join the army, where "everybody had to help keep things clean." But her father's disappearance forces her to first take on the outlaw world of the Dolly family. Ree's plan is elemental and direct: find her father, teach her little brothers how to fend for themselves, and escape a downward spiral of misery. Asking questions of the rough Dolly clan can be a fatal mistake, but Ree perseveres. Her courage and purity of spirit make her a truly compelling figure. She learns that what she had long considered to be the burdens imposed on her by her family are, in fact, the responsibilities that give meaning and direction to her life. Her story is made palpable by Woodrell, who is "that infrequent thing, a born writer" (Philadelphia Inquirer).

Customer Reviews:

A Cold Winter Novel's Mix of Harsh Tragedy & Lovely Beauty.......2007-10-14

Daniel Woodrell's Winter's Bone is a dirge. It's a funeral song for the woeful life that Ree Dolly has to live. But you'll never hope so much that it could be different. And in spite of the coarseness of this Okie gal, hell or high water, you'll respect her to no end for what she accomplishes. This is a wonderfully brilliant story. A weak reading would say that this novel is about a Satanically in-bred group of hate-bloods who do little more than cook meth and ruin each other's lives. A more grounded reading would argue that this is about one determined young and fighting spirit that's brave enough to front the face of Hell and to stand right beneath the crushing foot of Fate and, in spite of it all, battle to keep what's her and what the people she loves and care for truly need: a home, which, in truth, becomes her heart. For these few that she calls her own end up residing in her heart more than they do in any geographic space. As to Woodrell as a writer, well, he's a craftsman and a laconic mountain man-Shaman-magician, call it what you will. He works magic in the minimum of necessary words and the reader comes away feeling that they're in the presence of a master of gigantic proportions. And I fully believe Winter's Bone is his best by far. It's not that his other novels aren't good, because they're great. But Winter's Bone tells you why he's one of the best and why, if he continues at this pace, he'll be one of the top 10 contemporary American writers and, in the realm of the American realists, maybe the best ever. Theodore Dreiser, Jack London, John Steinbeck (well, okay, maybe not you), Erskine Caldwell: Be scared, very scared.

A great read.......2007-09-27

This was my first book by this author. I found this book to be an excellent read. Captures the Ozarks well. Characters are developed and plot builds. Highly recommended.

fantastic.......2007-09-24

This is one of the tightest and toughest novels I have ever come across. I read it in a sitting and wished it had taken a week. It is so sharp and contemporary that you don't notice the almost mythical nature of it until it is done. Fantastic job.

Story Well Told.......2007-08-29

This book was an unexpected treat. I haven't read any of Woodrell's works before but after reading this one, I plan to read more. This book is written so well, that I can still remember it vividly even after reading numerous books since. The characters and dialogues are so real and attractive, there were no boring patches in the book.

Entering a life unknown before now.......2007-08-15

It is wonderful to read a book that is so finely written.
He brings characters to life even though you may have little in common with them and makes you care and understand.

Average customer rating:

A Teenager's Review.
A Heartbreaking Story
Grown Up Kids
Great Book for Teens
Loved it

The First Part Last
Angela Johnson
Manufacturer: Simon Pulse
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0689849230

Book Description

Bobby's a classic urban teenager. He's restless. He's impulsive. But the thing that makes him different is this: He's going to be a father. His girlfriend, Nia, is pregnant, and their lives are about to change forever. Instead of spending time with friends, they'll be spending time with doctors, and next, diapers. They have options: keeping the baby, adoption. They want to do the right thing.

If only it was clear what the right thing was.

Customer Reviews:

A Teenager's Review........2007-10-04

I've read other reviews, and how this book should be read by all teens. No kidding. I am seventeen years old (only one year older than Bobby-the main character) and finished reading this book the same day I borrowed it from my English teacher. What a great book. I have a hard time putting into words how much better and more in touch with reality I felt after finishing this book.

Like most males my age, I feel like Superman, and say "Oh that would never happen to me" when subjects like teen pregnancy are brought to my attention. I realize after reading this book my arrogance has only crippled me and made me less prepared to take on the reality that is life. I don't think I could ever go through the events that take place in "The First Part Last" and ended up respecting the character Bobby as the man he wasn't at all prepared to be in the beginning of the story.

I am ready to recommend this book to just about every single one of my friends and family members.

A Heartbreaking Story.......2007-09-24

I think the title of this review says it all. Angela Johnson's "The First Part Last" broke my heart. I deliberately read through this thin volume slowly as to make my time with the characters last. The result was me laying in bed in tears, almost borderline at doing the "ugly cry," about the plight of Bobby and his beautiful daughter Feather. Johnson does an excellent job of creating characters that are both uncompromising and richly drawn. It is one of the best books I have ever read.

Grown Up Kids.......2007-08-27

This book, which is like so many lives of other teenage men, was one of my favorite books. I really enjoyed reading as Bobby, unselfishly put his life on a hold to raise his child. It was time for him to start to become a man, a grown up, at 16, but he didn't have the time. Time was up he had to be a grown up, a man, a father. I enjoyed this book so much I stayed up until 2:00 a.m. to finish it.
He also had to raise the baby on his own because his mom was never around and told him it was his responsibility and he needed to be a man about it. His girlfriend... well, you read the book and you'll find out. Although, I wish it had a little more information about what happened to Nia, but all in all, this book showed alot about taking the responsibility for your mistakes and to learn from them. And Bobby did just that in this story even though he really did do the first part last.

Great Book for Teens.......2007-06-14

When I checked this book out from the library, I was unaware that it was for young readers (wrong place I guess. I am glad that I read it though. It gave us a glimpse into to teen-age pregnancy...from the teen father's perspective. A great little read!

Loved it.......2007-06-07

I first read this book when I was about twelve, and I've reread it several times a year since. It has a beautiful story, but what really captured me was the elegant writing. Bobby doesn't always sound like a teenage boy, but he always sounds beautiful.

Father Hunger: Fathers, Daughters and Food

Average customer rating:

Thank you Dr. Maine!
Very Freeing
Elementary
Excellent

Father Hunger: Fathers, Daughters and Food
Margo Maine
Manufacturer: Gurze Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Eating Disorders | Mental Health | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Drug Dependency | Recovery | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Eating Disorders | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Medicine | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0936077093

Book Description

"Father Hunger" is the emptiness experienced by women whose fathers are/were emotionally absent, a void that leads to unrealistic body image, yo-yo dieting, food fears and disordered eating patterns. "Father Hunger" is a common phenomenon of Western culture, whose dictates and myths limit a father's role, creating a loss for all family members. Dr. Maine also discusses practical solutions to help readers understand and improve their father/daughter relationships and help families reconnect.

Customer Reviews:

Thank you Dr. Maine!.......2002-06-24

This book makes sense to me. Focusing on a systems approach has brought the clairity and peace of mind I have needed. This book does not place blame on fathers but forces us to look at our parental figures as part of a bigger picture. I honestly feel this is one of the best books I have ever read. Relatives and friends of mine are eager to read read this book. Thank you Dr. Maine!

Very Freeing.......2002-04-26

There are so many self help books about the father wound. Most of them leave me intellectually stimulated but emotionally empty.

This book is different.

Dr. Maine speaks plainly and emotionally in this book. I haven't read all of it yet, but the parts I have read captured my feelings about my father perfectly. It explains his role--or lack thereof in my life--and it fosters me in my quest to mourn the void that I have inside due to his neglect and emotional absence.

The best part of the book is the statement that we must accept and change the role that society has foistered onto men. Men have been required to distance themselves from their emotions and to not have deep and intimate attachments. As such, when they become fathers, the experience requires intimacy on a much deeper level than they are accustomed to and often, they fail. In healing the father wound, we come to realize that it's not just ourselves that must heal, but our fathers also.

Because it is by encouraging men to heal and reconnect with themselves that they will ultimately reconnect with us.

Buy this book. Share with your friends. Tell anyone who will listen. Get healed, be free and do what we should have been doing all along with our fathers: enjoy one another.

Elementary.......2001-05-18

If you know nothing about eating disorders...If you're early in your teens or 20s and just waking up to the profound realization that the relationships you had with your parents might have influenced how you are in the world, you will probably get a lot out of this book as a starting place. If you're like me and you've read Geneen Roth, Susie Orbach, explored these issues in therapy, I doubt you'll be satisfied. I bought the book intrigued by the title expecting to get a deeper perspective about food and fathers. Nothing.

Excellent.......1997-07-30

This book is different from most eating disorder books because of its focus on the father. It really gives you a new perspective on how fathers are actually involved in a daughter's life without actually doing anything. As a recovering anorexic and bulimic, I found this book helpful in opening my mind up about the complex interactions that helped form my problems. Understanding the root of the problem makes solving it easier (but still not that easy)

Average customer rating:

wow...surprised and such a really great read...
Worst part of this book is that it ends.
Love In the Midst of Chaos
haunting, but wonderful story
Magical dreams

Dream Boy: A Novel
Jim Grimsley
Manufacturer: Touchstone
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0684829924

Customer Reviews:

wow...surprised and such a really great read..........2007-09-20

I was actually very surprised, this is my first book by this author and i'm glad i got a chance to read some of his work in this book...he's really good at expressing the feelings of all the characters and you can almost feel every surrounding or see the feelings of each and every character the way he goes thru describing each and everything page by page...the abandoned farm house, the feelings between each of the characters as they interact, it's all really very amazing as he unfolds each and everyone...very good read...

Worst part of this book is that it ends........2007-06-16

'Dream Boy' was the first book I read by Jim Grimsley. He's now my favorite author. His sweet simple language and structure is so addictive. I love how his prose was floaty at times, I had to stop at times and wonder 'WTH is going on' but this only made it a better read by the time I finished. Actually I finished at around 4 in the morning (couldn't put it down) and cried long after that. This is a heartbreaking novel that everyone should read, ESPECIALLY Grimsley fans.

Love In the Midst of Chaos.......2007-05-21

This haunting story of a boy who falls in love with the boy next door is set against the backdrop of a disturbing home life.

haunting, but wonderful story.......2007-04-06

Jim Grimsley's novel, Dream Boy, is perhaps one of the most haunting books I've ever read. It tells the story of Nathan, a young boy growing up in the rural south, who falls for Roy, the older boy living next door. In the midst of a chaotic home life due to an alcoholic, abusive father, much of the book deals with Nathan's constant need to escape. His relationship with Roy, although tense at times, provides some moments of peace. The book's climax is heartbreaking; what follows, however, might seem confusing at first. I won't give too much away, but the end of the book leaves a lot up for interpretation.

Magical dreams.......2007-02-27

Nathan and his parents have just moved into their rented farm house, they seem to move around a lot. Next door live the owners with their son Roy. Nathan and Roy attend the same school. Roy, who also drives the school bus, is two years older than Nathan, but Nathan is bright, and is advanced a year in his schooling; the two quickly become friends. Nathan helps Roy with his homework, including English, and Roy reciprocates, helping Nathan with algebra. The two boys agree to be buddies. During school Roy joins Nathan to eat lunch and then they spend time with Roy's friends Randy and Burke.
Then during one homework session, with the two boys sitting close together, a touch gradually becomes something more until the two are passionately embracing on Nathan's bed. So begins their intimate relationship, with Nathan totally enamoured by Roy; however Roy at times seems distant and unsure as, it seems, he tries to understand their powerful attraction, and frequently reminds Nathan not to tell anyone about the nature their relationship. Yet while Nathan throws himself wholeheartedly into their affair, he has is own dark secrets, secrets that for a while the reader can only guess. Despite their problems their relationship continues and they sometimes join Randy and Burke for outings.
When, as his nightmarish secret problem threatens again and things become difficult for Nathan Roy supports him, but never pries into this secret. Then one weekend the two boys arrange to go on a camping trip along with Randy and Burke, all is well, even enchanting, until they arrive at the large long-deserted and supposedly haunted plantation house.
This is a wonderful story of love, loyalty and devotion, beautiful written creating an atmospheric and haunting air of mystery. The characters are believable, and in the case of Roy and Nathan, especially appealing. Mostly tender, occasionally violent, sometimes erotic, and always eloquent as it builds towards its magical dream-like finale, Dream Boy is a truly captivating and positive tale, highly recommended; my thanks to those who recommended it to me.

Lullabies for Little Criminals: A Novel (P.S.)

Average customer rating:

Stunning!
Well written but so desperately sad!
Can't wait for her next book!
Authentic
Looking forward to more from the author

Lullabies for Little Criminals: A Novel (P.S.)
Heather O'neill
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060875070
Release Date: 2006-10-17

Amazon.com

A down-and-dirty debut novel, a harrowing recital of a young life, a funny, innocent, streetwise telling of life on the street--all of the above describe Heather O'Neill's Lullabies for Little Criminals. In an autobiographical essay included in the book, O'Neill, whose own childhood parallels rather closely the life of Baby, her book's heroine, says, "In Lullabies, I wanted to capture what I remembered of the drunken babbling of unfortunate twelve-year-olds: their illusions; their ludicrously bad choices, their lack of morality and utter disbelief in cause and effect." She accomplishes all of the above and more.

Baby is born to two 15-year-olds, and her mother dies a year later. Her father, Jules, is not a bad man, but he is a perpetual kid, without money, education, purpose, moral compass, or any idea of what being a parent is about or how ordinary people live. When the novel begins, Baby is almost 12, and her 12th year turns out to be a very big one indeed. She smokes pot, shoots heroin, loses her virginity, and lives in foster homes, a state detention home, and one seedy, squalid apartment after another. She comes under the spell of Alphonse, a neighborhood pimp, and is so hungry for male affection that she mistakes what he offers for love and care.

Baby and her equally neglected and abused friends long for adulthood, whatever that means. They look up to sophisticated druggies and efficient thieves. Baby says, "I don't know why I was upset about not being an adult. It was right around the corner. Becoming a child again is what is impossible. That's what you have a legitimate reason to be upset over." Baby is matter-of-fact about her predicament. She knows that other kids have lives very different from hers but says, "It never occurs to you when you are very young to need something other than what your parents have to offer to you." This poignant story is beautifully written, sprinkled throughout with humor, pathos, unbelievable privation, and, in the end, the hope of redemption. At least we know that Heather O'Neill grew up to be a writer of no mean accomplishment. --Valerie Ryan

Book Description

LULLABIES FOR LITTLE CRIMINALS is the heartbreaking and wholly original debut novel by This American Life contributor Heather O'Neill, about a young girl fighting to preserve her bruised innocence on the feral streets of a big city.

Baby, all of thirteen years old, is lost in the gangly, coltish moment between childhood and the strange pulls and temptations of the adult world. Her mother is dead; her father, Jules, is scarcely more than a child himself, and always on the lookout for his next score. Baby knows that 'chocolate milk' is Jules' slang for heroin, and sees a lot more of that in her house than the real article. But she takes vivid delight in the scrappy bits of happiness and beauty that find their way to her, and moves through the threat of the streets as if she's been choreographed in a dance.

Soon, though, a hazard emerges that is bigger than even her hard–won survival skills can handle. Alphonse, the local pimp, has his eye on her for his new girl; and he wants her body and soul –– what the johns don't take he covets for himself. At the same time, a tender and naively passionate friendship unfolds with a boy from her class at school, who has no notion of the dark claims on her –– which even her father, lost on the nod, cannot totally ignore. Jules consigns her to a stint in juvie hall, and for the moment this perceived betrayal preserves Baby from terrible harm –– but after that, her salvation has to be her own invention.

Customer Reviews:

Stunning!.......2007-07-27

I would never have picked up this book on my own if someone had told me it was about a kid on the mean streets. Luckily for me, a writer friend gave it to me. Wow. This is some of the finest writing I have ever read. The author's fresh style and turns of phrase are breathtaking, and her characters are unforgettable. My only slight criticism of the book is that, though I could hardly put it down during the first half, it dragged on a bit toward the end. I am really looking forward to her next book!

Well written but so desperately sad!.......2007-07-24

I think the author has a lot of talent but the story line went from bad to worse. I understand that this is a real life for many but I read to escape and this book just kept getting more depressing. There is no hope for any of the characters. The scenes of rape where just too hard for me to deal with. If I want to educate myself about children being forced into the sex trade I will educate myself in a proper manner and not through so-called "entertainment". Not a light read and not recommended.

Can't wait for her next book!.......2007-06-22

This book, as so many people have already attested to, is written in a fresh way - one that will envelope you immediately. It is a very easy, quick read. I must admit, after the first chapter or so, I deliberately started reading slower to make the experience last longer....
Loved the book, and actually have now read some of the author's favorite books that she has listed in the back pages of this book. I read "The Clown" - which was another very uniquely written story about an unemployed depressed heart-broken clown in post WWII Germany.

Authentic.......2007-06-14

The author does a masterful job of capturing the outlook of a 12 yr. old. The authenticity of the story is breathtaking, you keep asking yourself, "How does she know this stuff?" Having a daughter and step-son who have experience as social workers with kids, the portrayal of the system's missteps are very accurate. Very insightful and enjoyable book.

Looking forward to more from the author.......2007-05-05

Heather O'Neill deserves a round of applause for this book. The characters she creates are vivid and heart-breaking; the writing, evocative.

Baby and Jules' story is one of grim hope. Despite miserable circumstances and bad decisions left and right, you find yourself rooting for the characters. Throughout the story's twists and turns, you can feel Baby's struggle to adjust to everything thrown at her. You can feel her desperate need for love, as well as her unconditional love for the people in her life, especially her father.

Lullabies for Little Criminals shows us the world through the 12-year-old eyes of Baby. It is a world where you take happiness where you can find it.

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Reconstructing a lost world
Somewhat dull and unsatisfying
The Smells of Home
Hall of Fame
My favorite novella, a truly literary gem

So Long, See You Tomorrow
William Maxwell
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0679767207
Release Date: 1996-01-03

Book Description

On an Illinois farm in the 1920s, a man is murdered, and in the same moment the tenous friendship between two lonely boys comes to an end. In telling their interconnected stories, American Book Award winner William delivers a masterfully restrained and magically evocative meditation on the past. "A small, perfect novel."--Washington Post Book World.

Customer Reviews:

Reconstructing a lost world.......2007-06-28

William Maxwell, in So Long, See You Tomorrow, performs one of the prime directives of literature, reconstructing a lost world. And Maxwell is patient and rigorous. We get the feeling, when reading this novel, that Maxwell is writing his work more to assuage his sense of loss than to inform or entertain us. This gives this novel almost the feel of a diary or memoir not meant for public review, or to be kept in a drawer until after the death of the novelist. And then pain of the loss is there, exposed, without mitigation; the young narrator walking with his hand around the hip of his father, who is pacing around the parlor in grief over his dead wife. The middle age narrator emerging from his psychiatrist's office overflowing with tears at the memory, secure in his knowledge that he can cry on a street in New York City with the greatest of anonymity. These are emotions men and women never surmount. This is raw stuff, but presented with the deft artistry, with the most patient care, and all in 135 pages.

Somewhat dull and unsatisfying .......2007-01-11

Somewhat dull and unsatisfying, like some other "literary" works I've read which don't hole my interest, don't resolve problems, swimming endlessly in the inner thoughts of a person with no action or only references to previous actions. I enjoyed his 'They Came Like Swallows' because it was very satisfying, but this is too "literary" for me in the sense that it appears to be more about the writer's writing ability than the actual story.

The Smells of Home.......2006-12-09

I should have known from the cover of this book that it was not going to appeal to those, like me, with no patience for a long, drawn-out old fashioned story of childhood memories of the 1920s. No, no, no. And I had fair warning from that sepia toned photograph of clouds above the farm. Or is it a photo? It's so softedged it might easily be an etching by Fuseli or perhaps, oh, what is the name of that woman my cousin used to love with her tender drawings of cats and butter churns? Oh I know, Tasha Tudor. Anyhow, William Maxwell had harder things on his mind that dealing with cats and butter churns when he saw down and wrote SO LONG, SEE YOU TOMORROW, which was regarded as one of the big literary events of 1980. What a sea change in attitude between then and now! Now the fiction editor of THE NEW YORKER might write a book and get it well reviewed, but people wouldn't necessarily canonize him or her, especially if the book of memory is dull and puzzlingly limp. You could write a story of two boys who were best friends in rural Illinois--why, my desk chair could write such a book--and yet when Maxwell spoke, people really coughed nervously as though they were experiencing the second coming of, oh I don't know, Glenway Wescott. He was a stylist above all, so don't come to SLSYT expecting the conventional virtues you'd get from a book, a strong plot, interesting characters, or memorable scenes.

From youth he had been accustomed to issuing crypto-homoerotic little "novels" like THE FOLDED LEAF and everytime he did, Sylvia Townsend Warner or Eudora Welty or someone would bow down as though to a great pagan idol of fiction. For simply put, he was the man. The narrator of SLSYT is now an elderly, doddering man who has had no fun in years and whose life has been spoiled forever by the memory of betraying little Cletus in the school system of Illinois way back when, when he "cut" Cletus in the hall, not even acknowledging his existence, for the simple crime of having been the son of a man implicated in a notorious murder case of the period.

It would be interesting to know if something like this case ever really occurred in 1920s heartland society. It had to be something strong, perhaps there had to be a murder involved, and Maxwell settled on a crime of passion. Our narrator had so many things taken away from him that for awhile, he toyed with running away. Maxwell wisely makes some canny observations on the tragedy of youth subtraction, including this one, which my neighbor loved and marked in green highlighter, "Whether they are part of home or home is part of them is not a question children are prepared to answer. Having taken away the dog, take away the kitchen--the smell of something good in the oven for dinner. Also the smell of washday, of wool drying on the wooden rack. Of ashes. Of soup simmering by the stove. Take away the patient old horse waiting by the pasture fence." Even when grown up, are we yet prepared to answer even the simplest question? If not, "so long," as one boy said to the other. "See you tomorrow."

Hall of Fame.......2006-07-26

This book is a gem. It centers on two acts of betrayal, one large, one not--yet, the small act of unkindness has remained with its perpetrator all his life. Wisdom seeps out of the pores of this novel. And I must add that it's heartbreaking to read reviews like the one below by "JMack" who believes that the book "does not deliver"--heartbreaking to think of how many other sublime works of literature he hasn't gotten. Sad. In any case, do yourself a great favor and read Maxwell [who was, all his adult life, a fiction editor at The New Yorker]. After this one you can read, TIME WILL DARKEN IT and the volume of collected stories published near the end of his long life.

My favorite novella, a truly literary gem.......2006-05-31

William Maxwell was an editor for many years at the New Yorker. Celebrated as a writer's writer, his spare, eloquent style has often been overlooked in the past few decades of flashy or sensationalized fiction. Maxwell is the real deal. This book has haunted me since I first read it in the late 80's. Interested readers should also consider its prelude, They Came Like Swallows.

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Fast forward past the movie and grab the book!
The book is better than the movie.
Gutsy western classic
A TRUE WESTERN WINNER ON ALL COUNTS
Have this book surgically attached to your body!

True Grit
Charles Portis
Manufacturer: Overlook TP
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1585673692

Book Description

Charles Portis has been acclaimed as one of America's foremost comic writers. True Grit is his most famous novel--first published in 1968--and the basis for the movie of the same name starring John Wayne (for which he won his only Academy Award). It tells the story of Mattie Ross, a fourteen-year-old girl from Dardanelle, Arkansas, who sets out in the winter of eighteen seventy-something to avenge the murder of her father.

Since not even Mattie (who is no self-doubter) would ride into Indian Territory alone, she "convinces" one-eyed "Rooster" Cogburn, the meanest available U.S. Marshall, to tag along with her. As Mattie outdickers and outmaneuvers the hard-bitten types in her path, as her performance under fire makes them eat their words, her indestructible vitality and harsh innocence by turns amuse, horrify, and touch the reader. What happens-to Mattie, to the gang of outlaws unfortunate enough to tangle with her-rings with the dramatic rightness of legend and the marvelous overtones, the continual surprises, of personality.

True Grit is eccentric, cool, straight, and unflinching, like Mattie herself, who tells the story a half-century later in a voice that sounds strong and sure enough to outlast us all.

Customer Reviews:

Fast forward past the movie and grab the book!.......2006-11-02

"True Grit" is a perfect example of a tremendous book whose place in our collective literary consciousness has been besmirched by a rather clumsy but well-meaning Hollywood substitute. This book should be on every junior high and high school reading list. It is true feminism on the American frontier -- a woman who won't accept "her place" in a man's world because it doesn't fit her agenda. Mattie Ross is out to avenge the murder of her father "in the Choctaw Nation when snow was on the ground."

I get chills even now from the memory of reading the serialized novel as a kid in the pages of "The Saturday Evening Post." Mattie Ross's harrowing experience in the rattlesnake pit was the most exciting thing I had ever read. It frustrates me now that I'm spending this time writing about a book that's been all but forgotton by succeeding generations. Everyone deserves to experience "True Grit." It's the kind of unputdownable book that can make even the most X-boxed kid of the G4 generation want to put down their controller and read for a few hours.

What has diminished this book's reputation over time has been the residual effect of a movie that fell far short of its potential, lapsing frequently into broad stereotypes. In the novel the narrative style fits Mattie Ross's character perfectly. The precise and opinionated spinster who tells the tale religiously avoids the crude employment of contractions in her sentences. Every "isn't" becomes an "is not," and every "he's" becomes a "he is." No one drops their "Gs" at the ends of words. While this sounds totally proper coming from Mattie's prim narrative, some Hollywood bumbler injudiciously decided to keep this mannered speech in the screenplay. Not just in Mattie's speeches but in those of Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne), LeBouef (Glen Campbell), Lucky Ned Pepper (Robert Duvall) and the rest of the baddies throughout the Oklahoma Territory. The result is a series of stiltifying portrayals where the rough cobs of the plains sound like Sunday School teachers. Kim Darby's earnest performance as Mattie Ross is lost in this morass. One is left with the sense from the film that the acting is just generally bad but the movie simply suffers from a screenwriter who just doesn't seem to know where the words are coming from.

So why do I make a big deal about the movie when I'm talking about the novel? Only to make the point that you should not let negative feelings about the film deter you from the book. Ironically and somewhat sadly, perhaps the best hope for the future of Portis's work is that another movie version might one day be made, bringing the story again before the public eye. (Are you listening, Mister Eastwood?) After all, shouldn't movie remakes be made of movies that didn't quite get it right the first time? Kurosawa could have done the story justice by setting the film in Japan. So too could Ang Lee. The story is a universal one that transcends cultures. Nonetheless, Portis's novel is a winning and articulate vision of a changing American West. It is one of the important novels in its genre -- one which does not deserve the fate of being ignored. All that aside -- it's a GREAT read!

The book is better than the movie........2006-07-06

Written in the first person we see the adventures of Mattie Ross, a fourteen-year-old know-it-all girl, as she tries to hunt down the killer of her father. To do it she must hire the skills of the one-eyed U.S. Marshal "Rooster" Cogburn. Made into the movie, in which much of the book was transferred onto the big screen word for word, this book is swift flowing, full of humor and action and, in some ways, very touching.
Even if you have seen the film I would still suggest buying a copy of this book, new or used, to enjoy for a that slow day in which you have nothing else to do.

Gutsy western classic.......2005-02-27

Mattie Ross must be one of the all-time greatest fictional heroines as she embarks, in her own words, "to avenge her father's blood".

I love the humor of Portis's book,

COWBOY: I gave some thought to stealing a kiss from you, but now I am of a mind to give you five or six good licks with my belt.

MATTIE: One would be as bad as the other.

And again,

MATTIE: Do you need a good lawyer?

COWBOY: I need a good judge.

This is a heady mix. The technique of a first-person narrator adds realism and immediacy, which combines with the author's sense of drama and irony to create something quite remarkable. It is only strange that "True Grit" should have found more fame on the screen than on the page.

One thing annoyed me and that is hardly the fault of the writer. The cover blurb states,

"Mattie Ross should soon join the pantheon of America's legendary figures such as Kit Carson, Wyatt Earpp and Jesse James" (Washington Post)

Well, perhaps, if only she could jump that thin barrier which separates fact from fiction.

"True Grit" is such a compelling novel that I was genuinely surprised to find that Charles Portis is a living author. I had supposed it had been written closer to the time in which it is set, such is its sense of authenticity.

It is also unbearably sad as well as funny. As the older Mattie states, ruefully reminiscing on her young self, "time just gets away from us." Such wryness is more shocking than all the snake-pits, shoot-outs and dying ponies of the early part of the story.

I have a few quibbles. The two marshals, Rooster Cogburn and LaBoeuff live to great ages (we are told Cogburn lives to 68) when I guess in reality most would have been lucky to reach 40, even if they were not vastly overweight and whisky-quaffing like the hero. But overall I really enjoyed this short novel and its introduction by Donna Tartt, even if she does not fully acknowledge the importance of Portis to her own work.

A TRUE WESTERN WINNER ON ALL COUNTS.......2005-02-26

Mosey on over to Arkansas and Missouri, why don't cha? - and check out this edition of TRUE GRIT by Charles Portis. With a stunning first person narrative voice, you'll find it's an absolute classic of the western genre - indeed, of the novel form itself.

Unfairly underated, or even misunderstood in the UK (my own well-thumbed copy is a child-oriented Puffin edition), Charles Portis' masterpiece has hitherto been quite sniffily regarded by the cognoscenti amongst us who are never stuck for a word or two, and invariably presume to dictate our literary tastes for us. (Naturally, John Wayne and Glen Campbell in the film version will have struck no chords of recognition with the literati!)

But personally, I was really interested to learn recently that novelist Donna Tartt's mother was "so crazy about (TRUE GRIT) that when she had finished it, she . . . read it all over again."

Only once in a bibliophliac lifetime have I been similarly affected by a novel, and that too was by a western: Elmore Leonard's HOMBRE. But, of course, HOMBRE too is an absolute classic of the novel form, though the literary snobs amongst us don't necessarily want us to know that.

I have been grateful too for Donna Tartt's incisive reminder about "the great abiding pleasure of (the narrative voice)" in TRUE GRIT. Because this set me thinking about my personal favourites in this respect. Two of them are listed above; the others being ROOM AT THE TOP; THE GREAT GATSBY; A CLOCKWORK ORANGE; JACK'S RETURN HOME (aka GET CARTER); I, CLAUDIUS; Keith Waterhouse's THERE IS A HAPPY LAND; THE CATCHER IN THE RYE; and ALFIE - to name but a phew!

Or am I showing my age? A golden one. I'll grant you!

Have this book surgically attached to your body!.......2005-02-09

I have read True Grit about 16 times. Every time I go into The Strand or any book store I find a copy and prop it up on the fiction table hoping to infect someone else with the Portis bug. I have read all of his work, even "Gringos," and it is all as funny and real as "True Grit," especially "Norwood." I lobby high school teachers to get "True Grit" or "Norwood" on reading lists and I lend out copies left and right or give them away in the hopes of widening Portis' sphere of influence.

But enough about me. "True Grit" is such a great read, full of jokes. I know I won't do them justice but here are a couple of scenes I like: The degenerate Marshall Rooster Cockburn lives in the back of a general store with a Chinese guy and a cat called Genera Price. He sleeps in a string bed (!) and shoots a rat during a business meeting with Mattie, the 14-year-old protagonist out after her father's killer. Or after Mattie tries to buy a horse from a local business man, vexing him beyond all limits, the business man sees her walking up the path and says "I heard tell of a young girl drowning in a well last night. But I can see you are fine." And the horse Blackie is such a good horse and the scene near the tail of the book where Blackie meets his end is so succinct and sad!

This is a great book that I think just about everyone would enjoy from 10-year-olds to 75 year-olds

Portis is supposedly holed up in a fishing shack in Arkansas writing a new book. I have a google search on his name to keep track of all Portis activity! I can't wait!

Average customer rating:

In High Places quick review
I can't wait to see what he has next.
Detail-rich story
A rocky coming-of-age tale
In High Places is my personal pick for best book of the year.

In High Places
Tom Morrisey
Manufacturer: Bethany House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Fiction | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0764203460
Release Date: 2007-03-01

Book Description

A Breath From Tragedy, a Whisper from Glory For Patrick Nolan, every climb tells a story. And now maybe it's his own â€¦. He's right at the rim, staring over the cliff's knife edge and wondering how things went wrong so quickly. It all started after arriving home from a weekend climbing trip with his father, Kevin. That's when word reached them. In a silent moment, they'd lost the person most important to themâ€”her death raising unanswerable questions and dangerous doubts. Launching a new life in a new town to escape their pain, son and father find themselves in danger of being torn apart forever. As his father seeks a route to solace on the dangerous high face of the rock, Patrick finds a path to hope with the unlikeliest of alliesâ€”a pastor's daughter. Together they must discover the one answer that can bring Patrick and Kevin back from the brink of the precipice Sometimes There's No Place to Go But Up

Customer Reviews:

In High Places quick review.......2007-06-27

Just started the book. Another great novel by Tom Morrisey! He writes about
another one of his passions, climbing. His books on diving are also excellent
and have a Christian theme interwoven in them while being thoroughly
entertaining reading.
N. Young

I can't wait to see what he has next........2007-06-06

Tom Morrisey's best novel to date, IN HIGH PLACES, cost me a good night's sleep and a set of chewed-off fingernails. As a young boy's coming-of-age story, it is superb; as a suspense-filled cliffhanger (pardon the pun), it will keep you on the edge of your seat. I found I couldn't put it down until the very last page.

In several previous novels such as YUCATAN DEEP and DEEP BLUE, Morrisey (executive editor of Sport Diver magazine) took readers under the water in scuba thrillers. This time, he takes the adventures topside. Morrisey poignantly unfolds the first-person story of Patrick Nolan, a 16-year-old rock climber who returns from a father-and-son climbing trip to his home in Toledo to discover his mother's apparent suicide. Patrick and his dad leave Toledo to open a climbing shop in West Virginia, where Patrick must grow up fast in matters of family, faith and love.

Morrisey has always been a good adventure writer (his work has appeared in the adventurer's Bible --- Outside magazine --- as well as other publications). What sets this book apart from Morrisey's previous efforts is the appealing first-person point of view, strong, tight editing, refusal to succumb to clichés and lovely prose. His chapters begin and end so compellingly, you can't help but turn the pages.

The opening lines are especially beautiful, almost poetic:

"It was not the rock --- it was never the rock; it was the air. Air: gusts and threads of it, rustling my hair at the edge of my faded red rugby shirt collar. Air: swaying the thin red climbing rope that dropped beneath me in a single, brief, pendulous loop. Air all around me and above me and behind me, open and empty and unsubstantial, drying the sweat on my dread-paled, beardless face, an entire sea of air, an ocean of it, lying vacantly beneath my jutting, quaking heels."

If you're not a climber (like me) you'll struggle a bit with the plethora of gear, technical terms and climbing lingo. The epigrams of gear drawings and their uses at the beginning of each chapter lend insight, but most non-climbers will skim some of the climbing jargon as they read. For climbers, however, this might well be the meat of the book. Even non-climbers though will enjoy some of the catchy names of various rock face climbs ("Ye Gods and Little Fishes," "Thin Man") and glimpses into a world that us vertically-challenged folks may never explore.

One of the final and succinct but devastating scenes of the novel takes place at K2, a climbing venue I had just read about in detail in the fascinating THREE CUPS OF TEA. Morrisey's book will remind readers of a very abbreviated version of Jon Krakauer's INTO THIN AIR, with all the attendant disasters that climbing can bring.

I think I'd know a Morrisey novel anywhere by the inclusion of at least one character wearing Ray Bans (does he get endorsement credit for this from the company?), although he's much more restrained about brand names in this novel than in previous ones. Most impressively, Morrisey eschews the easy Christian fiction ending without eschewing faith. This is not one of those happily-ever-after tales; there are no assurances that right choices have been made. Unlike some previous books, where Morrisey tended to be a little preachy, he strikes a good balance of faith themes with reality. Choices, after all, have consequences. And there are regrets when we make the wrong ones and our lives turn out differently than we expected. But, as he writes in the final scene, "Sometimes, hope is all we have. And sometimes, hope is enough."

Morrisey has taken a giant step forward with this novel. I can't wait to see what he has next.

--- Reviewed by Cindy Crosby

Detail-rich story.......2007-06-01

In High Places by Tom Morrisey is a story about rock climbing, and climbing over life's unexpected rocks. Patrick Nolan didn't think he'd come back from a rock climbing trip with his dad to find out that his mother had committed suicide. He also didn't expect to start his life over in West Virginia, or to find a beautiful girl. Life isn't always what we expect, but readers can feel the hope that exists throughout this book, a hope that is more than enough.

Morrisey brings readers into the valley of Seneca Rocks, in the rolling hills of West Virginia, and teaches them how to rock climb. He explains things while Patrick and his father make their many climbing excursions, so that any readers who have no experience with rock climbing will feel as though they are experts. While his description is vivid and entangling, the journey he sends Patrick on is even more complicated.

After his mother's death, Patrick and his father relocate to Seneca Rocks, West Virginia. As a part of starting over, his father opens up a store for rock climbers and people involved in other outdoor hobbies. Both men are trying to cope with their loss and are left wondering why there weren't any signs to warn them. Patrick worries about his dad when his dad starts taking very risky climbs. One morning Patrick runs into a girl. He is taken by her with his first look. She tells him to come with her and the next thing he knows, he's dressed in his hiking shorts while attending a very conservative Baptist church service. There he finds out that the girl, Rachel, is the pastor's daughter. The story moves quickly, uncovering clues of his mother's death, expanding the relationship between Patrick and Rachel, and revealing another relationship that Patrick begins to explore with God.

At first glance, this book looks like it's a book for guys, but anyone who loves a story deep with characters will easily relate. The first person narrative also appeals to people who enjoy reading memoirs. I recommend this book to anyone who loves a detail-rich story with plot depth. It is a great narrative of the hope we have and the journey it takes to find it. [...]

A rocky coming-of-age tale.......2007-05-23

Reviewed by Tyler R. Tichelaar for Reader Views (5/07)

"In High Places" by Tom Morrisey opens with Patrick Nolan and his father, Kevin, bonding as father and son during a rock climbing expedition at Seneca Rocks in West Virginia in 1976. The opening is a bit too filled with rock-climbing terminology, but if the reader is patient, within a few pages, the novel draws us in as Patrick and Kevin return home, only to discover Patrick's mother has died, apparently by committing suicide.

Patrick and Kevin's grief is tremendous, but as men, they find themselves unable to discuss it with one another. The reader is aware both are silently suffering, not knowing how to comfort each other, and their lack of belief in God makes it more difficult for them to find solace for their pain.

Unable to live in their home because it reminds them too much of their lost loved one, Patrick's father decides they will return to Seneca Rocks and open up a shop selling climbing equipment. This new life keeps them busy and helps them forget their grief for a short time.

The plot becomes complicated when Patrick meets and falls in love with Rachel, a preacher's daughter. When the preacher and Patrick's father meet, the preacher tries to talk to Kevin about God and Heaven, but Kevin's father becomes angry, refusing to believe in a God who would allow his wife to commit suicide.

Some readers may be turned off that "In High Places" is clearly a Christian book, but Kevin Nolan's questioning of God made me feel the book was not trying to preach or convince the reader of the truths of Christianity. Instead, it asked a legitimate question about why God would allow bad things to happen to good people. The book does not give easy answers; even when Patrick learns more about the details surrounding his mother's death, the novel does not seek to answer the question of why God allowed his mother to die. Rather than bring simple closure, the book opens up layers of complexity regarding the human condition and human behavior; it explores the difficulties and unanswerable reasons behind why people love and hurt each other. The book is hopeful, but the hopefulness is mixed with a strong realism throughout.

I think Morrisey handles the difficult questions and situations he creates with great maturity and tactfulness. I especially admired his decision to tell the story from Patrick's perspective, which allowed for all the questioning of a teenage boy, making the novel a story of a father-son relationship, a coming of age story, and a love story combined.

I have always thought rock-climbing would be fun, but the book's descriptions of the complexities of rock-climbing made me think I should stick to reading books. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the descriptions of the activity, which clearly Morrisey is an expert in. Whether or not the reader is a Christian, "In High Places" will appeal to a wide audience, especially male readers, who will enjoy a father-son story where the male characters act with maturity and respect toward each other. Many young men would do well to model themselves upon the character of Patrick. This book would make a great gift for Father's Day or to a teenage or college-age boy. "In High Places" has made me want to read more of Morrisey's books.

In High Places is my personal pick for best book of the year. .......2007-05-09

Review by David White

In High Places is not an average coming of age story. It's a story of continued hope and faith made real by the fact that even years later the narrator continues to struggle with those events.

Set against the backdrop of the beautiful Seneca Rocks in West Virginia in 1976, we're introduced to our main character, Patrick, and his father as they climb. At first it seems like an adventure story, giving an intimate account of what it's like to be a climber. In High Places does indeed give its readers an in-depth look into the life of a climber, sharing the experience with unexpected clarity and honesty.

The death, an apparent suicide, of Patrick's mother causes Patrick's father to move from their home in Ohio to Seneca permanently, where they set up a small climbing shop and can escape their pain. Of course, their loss follows them, and while Patrick's father only finds solace by making terrifying solo climbs, Patrick is befriended by the beautiful Rachel who helps him make a new life for himself.

Of course, Rachel is not any beautiful girl; she's a pastor's daughter, and religious folks have always been viewed with skepticism in Patrick's family. His infatuation brings him back to church week after week with even more frequent visits to her house. Patrick's conversion is not miraculous. If anything, it is accidental. It's his father's reaction that is of Patrick's greatest concern.

Revelations about Patrick's mother's death, and the faith she apparently came to just before it, brings about two major shifts in the novel. While both draw Rachel and Patrick closer together, they also bring unexpected consequences. If anything, In High Places is about such consequences. These revelations and Patrick's actions in response to them pushes Patrick's father from a kind of reckless sadness to anger, and then, perhaps, to hope.

But actions have consequences, not only for Patrick's father but for Patrick and Rachel as well. Once their relationship reaches its climax, it's never quite the same again, and apparently neither is Patrick. But In High Places is a book about hope above all else. There is hope for Patrick, Rachel, and, most of all, for Patrick's father.

This book is one that will cause conflict in the reader's emotions; it will make him question what happens as surely as if it were his own life. From a personal standpoint, I thought that this book held an attraction for me because it took place only fifty miles or so from where I grew up, but now I know that Tom Morrisey's writing, with its honesty and liveliness, is what made it truly gripping. In High Places is my personal pick for best book of the year.

In High Places shows so clearly that there is no hope without fear of disappointment. As Rachel once points out, movies have a tendency to make people think that things turn out as they should regardless of the actions of the characters. This is a trap into which In High Places never falls, but there is always hope.

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